Homemade pizza with sausage, mushrooms, fennel seed, and fresh mozzarella on the best crust using rapid-rise yeast to get supper on the table faster.
January 2020 is over and now we can all get back to our usual routines. Pizza is on our usual routine and I’m not sorry about it. IMO homemade pizza takes the cake above all other pizza. It’s not too greasy, crust isn’t too thick or thin aka “cracker pizza” like I have been known to call some kinds.
My favorite thing about this pizza is the crust. The dough for the crust comes together so quickly with the use of the rapid-rise yeast and that my friends is what perfect weeknight meals are made of. No more waiting an hour for the dough to rise. Rather, wait just 10-15 minutes and the dough is ready to go.
The pizza dough consists of 1 package of the rapid-acting yeast, all-purpose flour, salt, water, olive oil, and honey. There have been many days where I planned to make homemade pizza and then didn’t get the dough started in time and so have to resort to making something else. Those days are gone!
No more planning pizza only on days when can I get the dough started by 3:30pm because with this pizza crust recipe I won’t need to start it until I’m ready to cook the sausage or whatever toppings I will be adding to the pizza.
Pizza is one of those things that you can customize for everyone and it can be different every time you make it. It never fails to satisfy us all. This kind is probably one of my all time favorites. I love vegetarian pizzas but this one with the combination of sausage + mushrooms is mouth-watering.
We used to get the personal pizzas from the Schwann’s man when we were little and I thought they were the best pizzas. For some reason, I remember that they had fennel on them and pretty much smiled every time we had them. Well, I thought it was time to give them a go but with my own homemade version and I gotta say this sausage and fennel pizza is going to be a regular on our menu.
Here is a list of what you are going to need:
- Rapid-rise instant yeast
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Honey
- Water
- Olive oil
- Ground sausage
- Mushrooms (I used cremini)
- Garlic
- Fresh Sage
- Fennel Seed
- Shredded mozzarella
- Fresh mozzarella
Sausage and Fennel Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 1 pkg Rapid-Rise Instant Yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 2/3 cup warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey or granulated sugar
Sausage and Fennel Pizza
- 1 lb ground sausage pork or turkey sausage will do
- 1/4 tsp fennel seed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms sliced (may use your favorite kind of mushrooms)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh sage finely chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 3 oz fresh mozzarella cut into thin 1" slices
Instructions
Pizza Crust
- In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, flour, and salt with a wire whisk. Add the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. May need to use your hands to get the dough shaped into a ball. Let sit in bowl for 15 minutes covered with plastic wrap.
- Divide dough into two halves and it is ready to use for pizza recipe. Enough to make 2 pizza crusts
Sausage and Fennel Pizza
- Preheat oven to 425℉. Move oven rack to top 1/3 of oven. Cook sausage in a medium skillet until browned and cooked through. Add fennel seed and stir it in. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, add olive oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and stir occasionally until they have softened, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and sage and cook another 30sec-1min until they become fragrant. Set aside.
- Add non-stick spray or olive oil spray to two cookie sheets and sprinkle with a bit of cornmeal if you have it on hand to prevent dough from sticking to pan. Shape dough into two 10 inch roundish pizza crusts (they don't need to be perfectly round). I have found using your hands works better than a rolling pin with this dough.
- Add half of cooked sausage to each pizza dough crust. Follow with the mushrooms and both types of mozzarella cheese. Bake for 12 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Notes
More Delicious Pizza Recipes
Blackberry and Goat Cheese Pizza
Awesome Weeknight Chicken Pizza
